whogo

With two ports in Israel on the itinerary, I would expect some anomalies. Personally, I think it would be false advertising to publish an itinerary with stops in Israel, better off with nothing or at least a disclaimer.

I was perfectly happy to find our four star mariner pins in our mail slot on debarkation day, never thought there should be anything more, all I had done was buy cruises. Now I am sad that the captain did not pin it on me in front of the whole ship and kiss me on both cheeks.

There are no guarantees as far as Antarctica is concerned. Bad weather has kept ships from crossing the Drake Passage. High seas delayed us, we skipped a stop and never saw sunshine in Antarctica, still an amazing experience. We are considering a return trip. I would encourage you to comparison shop, see if you can physically and financially handle a ship with landings in Antarctica.

It is up to you. I am ignorant of cancellation insurance, figure that if I have the money to buy a cruise, I can afford to lose a bunch of it by debarking early. (I would never cruise without evacuation and medical insurance.) What will you do, if there is a family emergency? Can your adult children handle their own challenges? Is attendance at an aged aunt's funeral mandatory? We did not leave our Cape Horn cruise when our college aged daughter needed a tonsillectomy, would your family dynamics require your attendance? The cost of the cruise would be the last thing on my mind imagining the magnitude of a family emergency that would require our return home.

Seabourn Sojourn is scheduled to visit Kiribati, American Samoa, Samoa, and Tonga (as well as a number of Hawaii and New Zealand ports) on her January 11, 2024 39 day sailing from San Pedro to Sydney.

When a stranger at our table said, "Let us pray," I said, "Sure, go ahead."

Thanks for reporting live, FlyingScotSailors. I hope you'll post regularly, we are considering a similar Seabourn cruise. I believe this is your itinerary: 21 Oct 17:00 Los Angeles, Long Beach-San Pedro, California 28 Oct 08:00 - 23:00 Honolulu, Oahu Island Hawaii 29 Oct 08:00 - 14:00 Nawiliwili, Lihue, Kauai Island Hawaii 31 Oct 07:00 - 15:00 Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Island 04 Nov 10:00 - 17:00 Fanning Island, Line Islands, Kiribati 07 Nov 08:00 - 19:00 Bora Bora Island, Vaitape, Society Islands French Polynesia 08 Nov 07:00 - 22:00 Papeete, Tahiti Island French Polynesia 09 Nov 08:00 - 17:00 Raiatea Island, Uturoa, French Polynesia 11 Nov 08:00 - 17:00 Aitutaki Island, Cook Islands NZ 12 Nov 07:00 - 16:00 Rarotonga Island, Avarua, Cook Islands NZ 14 Nov 08:00 - 17:00 Alofi, Niue Island 17 Nov 08:00 - 18:00 Nukualofa, Tongatapu, Tonga 18 Nov 08:00 - 17:00 Vavau Islands Tonga, Neiafu 22 Nov 08:00 - 17:00 Bay of Islands, Russell, New Zealand 23 Nov 07:00 Auckland, New Zealand

Beer. It's not just for breakfast anymore.

Welcome to Cruise Critic, Joannmutch. My condolences on the death of your husband. While Cruise Critic won't let you find a roommate, there is plenty of information to be found for solo cruisers. Cabins for solos can be affordable, even double cabins for one. I hope the lack of a roommate won't keep you from cruising.

I would welcome salt shakers. The Zaandam only had salt grinders last year. Great thread once again, Crew News. I appreciate your digging up the facts.

Seriously, great live report and blog, BTimmer. It makes sense to provide the gifts at the beginning, you can use them through the cruise. Personally, I have too much stuff already and would rather not have any gifts.

"If you would care to keep the items, you account will be charged..."

"Please be advised that bringing your passport ashore is required for non-European guests." I was surprised to see that notice on your Le Havre daily program. Great thread, kazu.

That is hilarious.

Good move. I am surprised at how few cruisers take this option when facing unacceptable conditions.

Are warnings sent out to cell phones in Israel, something like the Emergency Alert System in the USA?

I think that classical music fans are a small percentage of HAL cruisers. I thought it was nice of HAL to have Lincoln Center, not that I was interested in listening. The Lincoln Center performances I saw were in a small area along a sometimes noisy corridor. I won't miss the classical quartet, trio, duo or soloist.

I am trying to forget the almost mandatory disembarkation meeting in the showroom with pleas for excellent ratings on the post cruise survey.

They used to leave a couple of Holland America postcards in your cabin, too, with more available for free from the front desk. I sent out a bunch of them back in the day.

Yes. You never know what foreigners may want.

I religiously avoid religious services aboard.

Seven days between Funchal, Madeira and Fort Lauderdale at the end of a great thirty day cruise from Athens is my record.

When I have problems with the Cruise Critic search function, I use Google advance search: https://www.google.com/advanced_search Put "https://boards.cruisecritic.com" in the site or domain field to search the forums.

Six for me, too: Seawind*, Regent*, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Holland America, Seabourn.

I generally don't care who the D is referring to, "somebody" is close enough.